New cat shelter to be built for airport cats.

Around 80 stray cats living among the hangars and runways of Rome's Fiumicino airport are to be transferred to a new shelter in the nearby Parco Leonardo area.

The move comes after a solution was reached between the airport and animal rights associations, with the collaboration of the local council and health authorities.

The plan involves catching the stray cats, prioritising the animals that are pregnant and sick. The cats will be sterilised and microchipped before being taken to the new cat shelter which is still being built.

• Why Rome's stray cats have a special place in the city's heart

In the meantime, Rome airport management company Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) has given volunteers from animal rights associations special access to airside areas to feed the cats.

In a statement on Facebook, AdR said it rejected "any accusation of mistreatment towards the felines", stressing that it was working for "the protection of the animals' well-being and the simultaneous essential safeguarding of airport security, the primary aim of the company".

The daily management of the new cat shelter will be entrusted to the national animal protection group ENPA which stated: "The 80 cats of Fiumicino will finally have a safe place to live, with veterinary care and a suitable environment".

• Rome's cat sanctuary among the ruins

The issue of stray cats at Fiumicino is long-standing and has created problems for both the animals and airport authorities, with the situation worsening in recent months.

Several cats have been killed by service vehicles and some of the stray felines have recently been spotted in the terminals among passengers.

A few weeks ago a black and white cat crawled into the engine compartment of a Ryanair plane headed to Malta, blocking the flight for almost two days.